Film is not exactly rife with female Polish directors, which makes Agnieszka Holland exceptional. She focused primarily on television and documentary work before writing and directing the epic Europa Europa.

Dozens of films have been made about the Holocaust but, as The Washington Post put it, "[there are] only a handful as passionate, as subtly intelligent, as universal as this one." Europa Europa tells the true story of Salomon Perel, a Jewish boy who finds himself jumping from the frying pan into the fire after he accidentally enlists in the German army and moves from one situation to another to hide his identity and escape alive. Not to be confused with the Lars von Trier film Europa, the film is available on DVD, although scrupulous purchasers might consider buying a used copy: a new copy is currently available for about $65 on Amazon.

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